Compound railway-rail



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D. DLWEI SELL. GOMPOUNQ RAIL WAY EA IL. No. 260,263. Patented June27,1882.

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' COMPOUND RAILWAY RAIL. No.2 60,263. I Patented J11ne2'7, 1882.

which are composed-of two parts,

tive view of the tread portion.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID D. WEISELL, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA.

COMPOUND RAILWAY-RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 260,263, dated June 27,1882.

Application filed July 26, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID D. WEISELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Fort Wayne, in the county of Allen and State of 5 Indiana,have invented new and useful Improvements in Compound Railway-Rails, ofwhich the following is a specification.-

This invention relates to that class of compound railroad-rails known asbipartite rails, one of said parts forming the base and the other thetread or crown of the rail. These two parts, constituting a rail of suchnature, are bolted or otherwise secured together, so as to practically 1form a continuous rail.

The object of my invention is to cheapen the construction and renewal ofsaid rails, and to render the same more durable than the railsheretofore made, as fully -described in the fol- 2o lowing specificationand illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is aperspective view of my improved rail. Fig. 2 is a perspective view ofthe base portion thereof. Fig. 3 is a perspec- Fig. 4 is a transversesection of the compound rail, and shows the way in which the two partsof the rail are bolted together. Fig. 5 illustrates the side of thecompound rail opposite to that 0 shown in Fig. 1, the bolts and washersbeing detached. Fig. 6 shows in perspective a modified form of the treadportion of the rail. Fig. 7 is a similar view of a modified form of thebase portion of the rail; and Fig. 8 is a sec- 3 5 tion taken on ahorizontal plane through these two parts locked together to form the compound rail, said section being taken on a plane indicated by dottedlines a: .40, Figs. 6 and 7.

The rail is composed of the two parts A B,

that are fitted and bolted together to constitute practically acontinuous rail. The lower or base portion, A, comprises the basea,'with a web, a, constructed with a vertical inner face, the base ofsaid web having a longitudi- 5 nal horizontal bearing, 0, for the footof the upper or tread portion, B, of the rail to rest upon. The Web ofthe base portion is formed along its top with two horizontallaterally-projecting flanges, D D, which afford an extended 5o1bearing,d, for the crown or tread E of the tread portion of the rail, meet thesaid flanges being received in alongitudinal groove, F, that is formedin the part B of the rail. This lastmentioned part of the rail is formedwith a neck or web, G, having a vertical inner face, which fits closelyagainst the web of the base portion of the rail, the said web of thetread portion being provided with a horizontal foot, H, which rests uponthe horizontal bearing of the base A. The effect of the flange of oneportion of the rail fitting into the groove of the remaining portionthereof will be to prevent any vertical sheering movement of itscomponent parts with relation to each other, thereby effectuallyobviating all of the objectionable features belonging to rails of thischaracteras heretofore made. By constructing a compound rail in this wayI obtain a practically solid hearing by employing the flanges'D D, thehorizontal bearing 0, and the foot or flange of the tread, which will beequal to or greater in width than the entire width of the tread por-.tion E of the rail.

The two parts of the rail are bolted together by means of bolts I,passing through washers K on both'sides of the rail, and also throughperforations that are formed through the web of the two parts of whichthe rail is composed. By bringing the vertical webs together and unitingthem by bolts, as hereinbetore described,

I provide an important function, in that the.

weight of the rolling stock at all times is sustained jointly by bothvertical webs, which is not the case where the webs are separated by abroad intervening space, as in that structure, if the wheels do not atall times bear upon the center line of the tread, the pressure or weightmust he almost wholly sustained by one web, and therefore it isnecessary to increase the size and weight of the inner web, which issubjected to the greater strain. a

It is essential that provision should be made for the expansion andcontraction of the parts of the rail in relation to eachother, inconsequence of the various changes of temperature 5 to which the railswill be subjected. To provide for this I employ the following mode orsystem of punching and bolting the parts together. Through the web orshank of the tread portion of the rail Ipunch at regular intervals aseries of square holes, L L, of such size that the squared portions 0 ofthe bolts will fit the said holes snugly. Through one end of the web ofthe base portion of the rail, and for half the length of same, I punchat intervals corresponding with the holes of the tread portion justdescribed a series of round holes, M, of exactly the size to fit therounded portion of the shank of the bolt, and through the remaining partof the web of said base portion I punch at regular intervals a series ofoblong holes or slots, N, corresponding in distance apart to the spacesbetween the square holes, and of sufficient length to admit of thegreatest expansion and contraction that the rails will be capable of.

The bolts employed for securing the parts of the rail together havetheir squared portions 1', which fit in the square holes, adj acenttotheir heads, the length of the said squared portions of the bolts beingjust sufficient to extendtbrough the washers that are adjacent to theirheads and through the square holes L, the said washers being fittedagainst the web of the tread portion of the rail. This prevents thebolts from turning, and consequently lessens the tendency of the nutsthat are tightened up against the web of the base portion of the railfrom loosening, and also prevents the boltfrom being thrown from itsposition at right angles to the line of the rail during any contractionor expansion of the latter.

It will be seen that one end of the base portion of the rail and one endportion of the tread part of the rail are rigidly bolted together forhalf the length of each part by means of the bolts passing through thesquare holes L and the round holes M, and that contraction and expansionmust take place equally from the central bolt without straining orsheering the bolts, the slotted or elongated bolt-holes not beingnecessary in these parts, except where metals of different expansivequalities are used, and then only in sufficient number from the centralbolt to compensate for this difference. As shown in Fig. 5, the boltspassing through the square holes L in the tread portion of the rail passthrough the end parts or halves of two base portions of the rail thatmeet or are adjacent to each other, one of said halves of the baseportions having the round and the other the elongated holes.

In order to lay the above-described rail, the two parts should be boltedrigidly together by the bolts passing through the square and the roundholes. 'lhen place the rail thus bolted in position upon the ties, withthe tread on the inner side of the track, and drive the first spikethrough the notch 1?, formed at the central part of the rail, thusfixing the center from which expansion and contraction will take place,and preventing all crawling of the rails upon the tie or road-bed. Thentake another rail, passing the bolts through the remaining square holesL of the tread portion and through the elongated holes N, and if thetrack-laying is during the highest temperature to which the rail will beexposed place the same in contact with the one previously laid and spikeas before, the rails being in po' sition for contraction and expansion,as shown in Fig. 5.

In the modification illustrated in Figs. 6,7, and S, in place of passingthe bolts through the square holes in one-half of the tread portion oftherail into and through elongated slots made through one-half of thebase portion of the rail, I punch the metal out of said parts, so as toform the lips P P at the sides of the elongated holes or slots N fromwhich the'lips have been punched out. Each lip will be formed on itsinner face with a part, 1, parallel with the axis of the rail, and witha part, 9", extending outwardly at an angle to the axis of the rail. Theweb will also be formed with a bevel, T at that end of the slot wherethe lip forms its junction with the web, so that when the parts areinterlocked, as shown in Fig. 8, the parts i" of the lips will fitagainst each other, while the outwardly-inclined parts 1" of the lipswill fit against the opposing beveled portions 1' of the rail at the endof the slots. It will be obvious that this arrangement will admit of theexpansion and contraction of this portion of the compound rail equallyas well as in the case of bolts passing through square holes intoelongated holes, described in the first part of the specification.

It will be seen that by the above one end of the base-rail for half ofits lengthis all that is necessary to have slotted to fully compensatefor all contraction and expansion which will take place in eithersection of the rail, and that it enables me to bolt the other halfrigidly to the tread portion of the rail. It prevents loosening of thebolts and renders it impossible for the crown to move upon the baseportion by the traction of the engine under any or all of the changes oftemperature that the rail may be subjected to.

The tread and base portions of the rail can be made of difi'erentmetals, if desired, the tread being of steel and the base portionpreferably of iron for cheapness.

I am aware of English Patent No. 1,079 of 1873, in which a compound railis composed of two parts provided with top and bottom bearings, but insuch construction the lower bearings are arranged on an inclined plane,which is a serious objection, in that the weight of the rolling stocktends to force parts of the rail asunder, thereby causing the treadportion to gradually move down the inclined hearing, which results ingreat strain on the 'bolts or other fastening devices, and rendering itimpossible to retain the parts of the rail in contact, which hasheretofore been the main objection to this class of rails. In myinvention the lateral top and bottom bearings are arranged in horizontalplanes, and the web of the face or tread rail is placed on the inside ofthe track, whereby the liability of the two parts being forced asunderis entirely avoided, and the weight of the rolling stock and theinclination of the wheel-tires tend to force the parts of the railtogether, and the bolts or other fastening devices are entirely relievedfrom undue strain during the passage of a train, which obviously is ofmuch importance in the practical use of this class of compound rails.The laterally-projecting bearings, arranged in horizontal planes, ashereinbefore described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, providea bearing-surface equal to the face of the rail and prevents the partsin contact from becoming injured or destroyed by use, as must be thecase where the thickness of the web forms the only bearing. Further, inmy construction the two parts of the rail are provided with verticalinner faces, which bear directly against each other, and thereby permitthe entire web to be brought into contact, which is so desirable in arailroad-rail. The two parts of the rail are so connected by bolt-holesand bolts that they can expand and contract longitudinally, and yet-theabutting faces of the webs and other parts are retained in closecontact.

The top and bottom bearings being arranged in horizontal planes, ashereinbefore described, provide substantial bearings that absolutelyavoid the possibility of lateral separation, due to the great weight ofthe rolling stock.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-- 1. In a compound or bipartite rail having websarranged in contact with each other, the I part A, provided with theflanges D D and bottom bearin g, C, the surfaces of which are extendedlaterally in horizontal planes, and the part B, provided with thelongitudinal groove, tread'E, and foot H, the bearing-faces of which arealso extended laterally in horizontal planes, substantially as and forthe purposes described.

2. In a compound or bipartite rail having webs united together incontact by connecting devices which permit their expansion andcontraction, the part A, having the flanges D D and bearin g 0 extendedlaterally in horizontal planes, and the part B, provided with the1ongitudinal groove F, the tread E, and the foot H, the bearing-surfacesof which are also extended laterally in horizontal planes, allsubstantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

3. Acompound or bipartite railway-rail composed substantially of thepart A, provided with the lateral flanges D Dat its top and the lateralbearing 0 at the inner side of its bottom, and the part B, provided withthe longitudinal groove F, lateral tread E, and lateral foot H, thebearing-faces of said flanges, tread, and foot being formed onhorizontal planes, in the manner and for the purposes described. Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

DAVID D. WEISELL.

Witnesses:

W. J. HOLMAN, W. H. ORFE.

